Amid Loss, UAMS Chancellor Hopes To Increase Revenue, Cut Expenses

UAMS Chancellor Dr. Dan Rahn said he has a plan to slash expenses and increase revenue that should generate $40 million for the campus during the next 18 months.

Credit Jason Burt / Arkansas Business

In the first six months of this fiscal year, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences lost $27.8 million. Arkansas Business reports in this week's issue on the dramatic downturn compared to the same period a year earlier, when it had an $8.5 million gain.

Dr. Dan Rahn, the chancellor of UAMS, said he has a multi-point strategy to increase revenue and slash expenses that should generate about $40 million for UAMS during the next 18 months.

“We’re dealing with some fundamental changes,” Rahn told Arkansas Business last week during an interview in his office at the UAMS Medical Center. “The financial model that we’ve relied upon for the past decades is changing, and we’re going to have to change.”

Rahn said the UAMS campus, including components such as the hospital, the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the medical colleges, has enough money to pay its bills, but the balance sheet is “an indication that things need to change.”

He said it’s critical that the state Legislature continue funding the “private option” Medicaid expansion, which is being debated in the fiscal session that began last week.